Chris Rowe leaves Gold-i after 5 years as Business Development Manager

Intelligent and affable, Chris Rowe is one of the friendly faces of the technological development sector of the retail FX industry.

During his five year tenure at Guildford-based trading platform integration and liquidity management company Gold-i as Business Development Manager, he became a familiar B2B partner for many brokerages around the world, however yesterday, a new chapter began for Mr Rowe as he announced his departure from the company.

Beginning his reflection on the five years during which he led Gold-i’s international business development effort which involved working closely with electronic trading firms across Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, Mr Rowe began with an iteration of a prose often attributed to Charles Darwin, that being ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives but the most adaptable”.

“After five and a half years of working at Gold-i I have finally left. It has been an interesting and largely enjoyable journey where I have learned a lot about a new industry and selling globally. I had no idea what Forex Trading was before I started there” he said.

“Having now adjusted to global selling I have found that the cultural differences that operate in different regions and countries is staggering” continued Mr Rowe.

If you want to succeed in sales then being able to adapt to different markets and different cultures is essential. Cultural differences can occur in dfferent companies in the same geographical location so spend some time both before and at the beginning of each meeting establishing how the cuture of the company that you are selling to may effect the sales process – Chris Rowe

Mr Rowe worked closely with senior Gold-i leadership including acclaimed CEO Tom Higgins during one of the most interesting periods of time within the FX industry’s evolutionary journey, and witnessed a tremendous expansion in which Gold-i maintained its intrinsic Britishness yet expanded to Asia, Europe and the Antipodes, with Mr Rowe often working closely alongside brokerages in very specific regions which require adaptability from their technology providers due to local business culture and regulatory rulings.

Following on from this, Mr. Rowe recalled that one particular brokerage that he had spoken to in London just a few weeks prior to his conversation on this topic with FinanceFeeds had inquired as to the cost of operating Visual Edge, and had said that he could make research himself and acquire the same results.

This was countered by a colleague pointing out that it may take two to three days to analyze a specific scenario, plus incur the costs of an analyst to carry out the task, when Visual Edge can do it instantaneously.

“Implying that a broker has difficulty in operating its own B-book is something of a taboo subject” said Mr. Rowe. “Nobody likes to approach this subject, however with the right technology, dealing desks can be assisted to stay within the parameters of profitability” he said.

At that time, Mr Rowe alluded to the company’s distinctive British origins, yet global aspirations by explaining to FinanceFeeds

“We are a very British company, and have a British, innovative ethos and are very keen to emphasize that, however being intrinsically British and being able to accommodate the needs and operational specifics of companies in China or Hong Kong is entirely feasible”

Since this conversation, Gold-i has continued the development and expansion of its Matrix product range, of which Mr Rowe has led the business development within retail brokerages, hence it has been a period of great interest indeed.

FinanceFeeds wishes Chris Rowe great success in his new path, which as yet has not been disclosed.